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His response to the need for reducing class sizes was not much better. Again, he left it to school divisions to figure out how it should be done, “using all capital assets available” in schools to spread out students or even looking at nearby schools with additional space.
While the new guidelines provide $20 million to school divisions for staffing and sanitation to deal with the pandemic, the hiring of new staff to reduce class sizes will be allowed only under exceptional circumstances.
Given that many large urban high school classrooms were already overcrowded before the pandemic, will all these schools be deemed “exceptional cases” and provided additional funding?
Moe said “there’s no place for politics in the COVID response,” but it’s hard not to apply an urban-rural lens to the government’s plan. Everything from class sizes to the need for mask use depends on population, and in trying to keep to the middle, the government is satisfying neither side.
Meanwhile, it’s becoming clear that the chief medical health officer needs to be re-designated as an officer of the legislature to provide public confidence in its independence, much like the provincial auditor.
While Dr. Saqib Shahab demonstrated strong leadership in guiding Saskatchewan through the initial stages of the pandemic, lately it’s been hard to tell whether he’s advising the government or toeing the government’s line.
While Canada’s public health policy guidelines, other medical experts, education groups and teachers are all advocating for smaller class sizes, mandatory mask use in small spaces and other measures, Shahab is taking a more flexible approach that calls for cohorting students and teachers into groups and asking families to rethink their “bubbles.”
“An occasional case or cluster in a school, or in a family of a child that goes to school should not be a cause of concern,” he said. But for extended families including grandparents, and for coworkers of the parents of any infected children, the concern would be considerable.
Yes, it’s a pandemic, and some people are bound to get sick. But people also need reassurance that the government is doing all it can to protect them without letting politics get in the way.
